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I. Wilson "Shear Steel"

A friend of mine gifted this blank to me.He lives in the UK & got it dumpster diving when a cutlery factory went out of business,I'd say maybe in the early 1970's is when he obtained it.It was "full" & un hafted,it's old.
Then he sent it to knifemaker Tony Bose & Tony put some ebony on it. I recently got it back in ,I sent it out to Larry Parsons,he made a buffalo hide scabbard for it.

I do not use it too much,but it really makes me want to have a pig roast. I can't say why this knife gives me those urges,but it does

I hope you like to take a peek. The steel was regarded as high performance in it's day & these were asked for by name,amongst people who sought out good knives then.
-Vince

The very earliest I (actually J for John) Wilson marks have just the peppercorn and diamond that was used from 1766 into the first quarter of the 19th century from then until 1849 they marked with just the I. Wilson and the peppercorn and diamond.
From 1849 to 1891 when the McKinley Act came into effect they were marked with the peppercorn and diamond I. Wilson with shear or cast steel under that with an oval around it. Knives made from 1891 to 1908 would be marked I. Wilson and the peppercorn and diamond
with a second stamp off to the side of Sheffield England or marked with the
peppercorn and diamond I. Wilson with shear or cast steel under that with an oval around
it all with a second stamp off to the side of Sheffield England.

I haven't lived the life I wanted, just the lives I needed too at the time.

Ex sycamore st. means it was made after WW-II. Shear steel is actually very similar to Damascus in that it is forge welded and laminated. I've used a number of old Wilson blades and they do seem to have a "bite" to their edge that modern steels lack

Shear steel was made by taking blister steel, breaking it into 10 inch lengths. It was then stacked, heated and hammered into a bar. The process was repeated to produce double shear steel which was more desirable by the cutlery industry.

Ex sycamore st. means it was made after WW-II. Shear steel is actually very similar to Damascus in that it is forge welded and laminated. I've used a number of old Wilson blades and they do seem to have a "bite" to their edge that modern steels lack

If this dating is correct,the knife blank is later than I thought,but makes sense as to how it was obtained

Shear steel was made by taking blister steel, breaking it into 10 inch lengths. It was then stacked, heated and hammered into a bar. The process was repeated to produce double shear steel which was more desirable by the cutlery industry.

-AJ

Originally Posted by Noodle Soup

They closed the scyamore st. plant around the end of WW-II and moved, not sure where. But they wanted to keep the well known trademark so they added the "ex" part.